As you may have picked up from the movie trailer, Deadpool is unstoppable.
After a supporting role in X-Men: Origins: Wolverine, Ryan Reynolds is back leading a spinoff that’s true to the ultra-violent, darkly hilarious anti-hero that’s been shooting and hacking his way through 25 years of adventures in Marvel Comics.
Who is Deadpool?
In the tradition of our for Virgins series, here’s what you need to know about the man in black and red if you’re read one, hundreds or no comics.
Deadpool first appeared in New Mutants in 1991 by Rob Liefeld and Fabian Niceza as a ruthless mercenary hired to kill the team leader, Cable (the son of X-Man Cyclops from the future – it’s complicated!)
Deadpool was revealed to be name Wade Wilson, a human mutate with a regenerative healing factor thanks to the Weapon X program (the same covert military science unit that gave Wolverine his adamantium skeleton).
Wilson is a martial arts master, expert marksman and swordsman making him one of the most infamous assassins and mercenaries in the Marvel universe. Deadpool is a quick with a quip as he is a knife and unloads with chatter like a machine gun. Wilson became known as “the Merc With a Mouth” for his constant talking and joking.
Domino was a member of X-Force but she was actually Vanessa Carlyle, a shapeshifter and Wilson’s girlfriend he tasked with impersonating Domino to track Cable.
New Mutants relaunched as X-Force with Deadpool as a regular villain. Wilson was always a smart mouth from the start but the comedy was ramped up as well as Wilson’s body count.
Deadpool would star in two four-part limited series then scored his first ongoing book in 1997 by Joe Kelly. You could say the Merc With a Mouth and the Marvel Universe wouldn’t be the same as Kelly’s Deadpool “broke the fourth wall” talking to the reader, time traveling and diving into weird new worlds. This ruthless mercenary killer evolved into a wise-cracking anti-hero.
Deadpool’s solo book has been killed and resurrected and fans have seen multiple spinoffs including Deadpool Corps, Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe, Night of the Living Deadpool, Deadpool Team-Up, Deadpool Killustrated (in one issue Wilson takes on Moby Dick!) and even an adults-only Deadpool Max book.
Gerry Duggan, Brian Posehn and Cullen Bunn have been the writers behind Wilson’s modern, mad adventures including Deadpool’s marriage, “death” and resurrection.
Deadpool has become a team player, too. Wilson was part of a Wolverine led Uncanny X-Force and is currently a member of the Uncanny Avengers (a squad of Avengers, X-Men and Inhumans). Deadpool and Spider-Man are co-starring in a buddy book and Wilson is starring in a limited series with Cable by Nicieza who helped start it all back in ’91.
If you enjoy the film you will want to look for Joe Kelly’s volume which introduced sidekicks Blind Al and Weasel and really gave us the action/comedy hero seen in the big screen version.
Isn’t that an X-Man? Yes, Deadpool features Colossus (the super strong mutant who can transform his body into living metal) of the X-Men and the teenage girl is known as Negasonic Teenage Warhead who only made one appearance in one X-Men comic book.
Who is the bad guy? Ajax is a product of the Weapon X program in the comics. The mercenary formerly known only as Francis worked for Dr. Killebrew’s lab called the Workshop. This was known as a hospice for Weapon X’s failures. Francis would taunt the “washouts” including Wilson.
What about the movie?
Ryan Reynolds played mutant Wade Wilson, part of a Team X, which included Logan (Hugh Jackman) before he got the metal, Sabretooth and other mutants as a covert hit squad for the government. Reynolds was allowed to show off his comedy and sword play in the flashback. Wilson appeared in the finale of the movie as “the Deadpool” a mutant killing Weapon XI armed with the stolen powers of other mutants. Ironically the “Merc With a Mouth” has his mouth sown up.
Reynolds was always perfect casting. Now Reynolds is in the perfect film to showcase the killer merc turned beloved antihero.
By Editor